Never mind that she had only 200 or so followers when she made the tweet. By the time she got off the plane, a firestorm had erupted on Twitter that was arguably unlike anything that we’ve seen in some time.

As she embarked upon a long flight to Africa, PR staffer Justine Sacco issued this tweet. At best a darkly ironic self-deprecation that could never fit into 140 characters, it resulted, within bare minutes, in an internet-wide scandal. Even as the plane is still in the air–Sacco presumably oblivious–there [was] a hashtag, #HasJustineLandedYet, a parody account, @LOLJustineSacco, a fake movie poster, and, God help her, a whole entire New York Times article, replete with a stunned disavowal from her corporate employers.

The meme was incredible and fueled by the fact that she was on a long flight — with no internet. By Saturday, Sacco was fired.

“Words cannot express how sorry I am, and how necessary it is for me to apologize to the people of South Africa, who I have offended due to a needless and careless tweet….There is an AIDS crisis taking place in this country that we read about in America but do not live with or face on a continuous basis. Unfortunately, it is terribly easy to be cavalier about an epidemic that one has never witnessed firsthand… I am ashamed.”

The sense of responsibility I carry as a social media admin extends beyond the limits of my organization’s social media policies. To say that I think before I post is a massive understatement; I check my profile multiple times before posting to ensure that I am choosing the correct one for my statement, especially on a mobile device, which makes the occasional “oops” remarkably achievable.

Faith is undeniably right. And yet, what happened with Sacco still leaves me with a bit of unease. The mob mentality on Twitter was quick to condemn — even for someone who was a small-ish player for a media company with less followers than, well, people like me. As one commentator noted, “As sport in the Twitterverse, destroying Justine Sacco disgusted me.”

Is what Sacco said offensive? Yes, quite so and racism has no place in today’s society. Did she deserve to be fired? The employer here really had little choice after the tweet spread on the web — even though the account was from Sacco’s “personal” one, not the company’s channel. But does she deserve to be threatened with her life and banished from work forever? No.

For employers, the Sacco incident is an important reminder that social media is unlike any communication tool we’ve seen before. If someone with just 200 followers can set off a worldwide firestorm with one tweet in hours, imagine what could happen if someone at your company posted something just as offensive? For all of the good that Twitter offers, it can turn into a mob just as quickly.

I’ve said this time and again, but social media is a presence that is unavoidable for employers now. Educating your employees about what can happen even by writing one stupid and offensive tweet may save your company lots of anguish in the future. The mob on Twitter is just waiting for its next target.

Dan, I share your unease regarding the mob mentality on Twitter and other social, news and entertainment platforms. People feel free to take action online that they would refrain from in the presence of another person, and the rate of escalation can be alarming. I was particularly impressed by the IAC response, and their request for the public to allow “time and action, and the forgiving human spirit” to prevent the “wholesale condemnation” of their former employee. The message was an acknowledgement that we are all capable of making mistakes, and that behind one very questionable tweet was a person who many apparently knew to be a “decent person at core.”

About Daniel Schwartz

Trusted advisor. Experienced employment law attorney. Bar leader. Award-winning author. Noted Speaker. "Legal Rebel". All can be said to be apt descriptions of Daniel Schwartz, partner at Shipman & Goodwin LLP. More +

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More than anything else, employment law is about relationships. Where other areas of of the law seemingly exist more on sheets of paper than in reality, employment law depends heavily on the interpersonal relationships between employers and employees. The rules governing these relationships are limitless, but it is my job as an employment lawyer to take complicated (and confusing) laws and break them into understandable concepts. That’s what I do on this publication, and that’s what I do in my practice everyday. More +

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